WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Agriculture Department on
                  Tuesday lifted an import ban on apples, oranges, peaches and tangerines
                  grown in regions of Mexico that had been infested with destructive fruit flies,
                  officials said.

                  The USDA said parts of the Mexican states of Baja California Sur,
                  Chihuahua and Sonora were now considered to be free of fruit flies.

                  "This final rule lessens restrictions on the importation of certain fruits from
                  those areas while continuing to prevent the introduction of plant pests into
                  the United States," said Alfred Elder of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health
                  Inspection Service.

                  Previously banned apples, oranges, peaches and tangerines are now
                  expected to find their way into U.S. grocery stores. A USDA spokeswoman
                  said the fruit is not expected to be imported into the United States in large
                  quantities and will not hurt U.S. producers.

                  Agriculture Department officials said they expect 4,000 tons of apples,
                  28,144 tons of oranges, 2,000 tons of peaches and 280 tons of tangerines
                  to be imported into the United States annually from the Mexican areas.
                  Those amounts would account for less than 0.3 percent of U.S. production,
                  they said.

                  The USDA first proposed in June to declare certain parts of Mexico free of
                  fruit flies after requests from the Mexican government.

                  U.S. farmers have waged a fruit-fly war of their own this year.
                  Mediterranean, Mexican, Olive and Oriental fruit flies have been found on
                  California farmland this growing season, threatening the state's $26 billion
                  agricultural economy.

                  Last year, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea banned imports of
                  fresh fruit from San Diego County because of a Mexican fruit-fly infestation
                  that some called the worst in nearly 25 years. Agricultural officials blamed
                  the infestation on fly migration from Mexico and on food smuggling.

                  Mexican fruit flies, which attack 50 types of fruits and vegetables, are not
                  considered as dangerous as Mediterranean fruit flies, which attack five times
                  as many varieties and are found in California and Florida.

                  Fruit flies destroy agricultural products when the females lay eggs below the
                  skin of ripening fruit. The eggs hatch into maggots, which ruin the fruit and
                  vegetables.

                   Copyright 1999 Reuters.